The Upper Vadraedic (CCW)
These nations, now dominated by Capaliso, face the Potecan to the west and Rutalia to the east. In fact Dalcerannea and Capruannea are often considered culturally Rutalian, though they lie just outside the Rutai Bay. The Upper Vadraedic is known for its tropical and subtropical climates, unorthodox cultural and social mores, as well as a religious identity that, unlike their southern peers, is well removed from the Wars against the Gods. Capaliso The White Tiger of the West, once a distant fourth place among the great Vadraedic powers, now barrels towards superpower status—a strange fate for a wet, rather remote chain of islands, filled with unimpeded swaths of tropical rainforest, scrappy, unadorned ships, and humbly attired citizens. But forty four years ago, after suffering the great humiliation of losing all its territories in the Potecan, Capaliso was forced to reckon and reform. And it did, reentering the colonial race with unimaginable wealth, a militantly unified citizenry, and the most advanced navy on the planet. Ideology and Ascendance Capaliso’s rise is not just another high tide in the ebb and flow of human powers. The unprecedented fear and hatred with which the rest of the world regards the “Caps,” was not earned by their devotion to flawless logistics and maximal efficiency. No, the world fears Capaliso because it looks like no imperial power before it: a radical republic with no emperor and no regard for traditional social structures, or any tradition at all for that matter. Capalesians have abolished aristocracy, private property, even the family unit. And what’s more, a religious zeal consumes them; an apocalyptic faith that compels them to save humanity by dominating it. According to their Santolian Church, only unity under Capaliso’s enlightened rule will preserve human civilization in an “age of transformation.” And furthermore, other races are not the enemies of humanity, but equal partners in this new global equilibrium. So Capalesians have put themselves in a most despised position: as paternalistic conqueror of humanity, and open collaborator with the Strangers. Yet Capaliso’s friendly relationships with the great non-human powers is exactly what has propelled it to its current heights. The vast, bountiful Rovrh nation and the formerly hostile Draede race have proved to be formidable allies and critically untapped resources. The technologies they have provided alone are rumored to make the motley Capalesian navy all but invincible. Wild stories have emerged, about what their ships are capable of, their mages, and most of all, the very islands they inhabit. Innovations in Magecraft For all its might, the islands of Capaliso are not much to look at: There are no smokestack factories or towering palaces. Instead, Capalesian cities are unadorned and unassuming, often heavily integrated into the local environment—rainforests in the south and subtropical scrub to the north. Whole neighborhoods drop off into foliage. Streets end abruptly and give way to steep hills and waterfalls. Some alleyways are just tightly packed dirt. Visitors routinely report that wild animals are allowed to trot freely down main thoroughfares. But all this rustic, nearly primitive appearance masks the reality of a highly advanced magical infrastructure. While magecraft has been around for over 1500 years, its application throughout the human world has been mostly military, and its use highly regulated. Not so in Capaliso. Magic is integrated into the architecture here, the landscape, into everyday life. The wild, unimpeded fields and swaths of tropical rainforest? These are the Capalesian factories. Raw materials are buried here, and in the soil itself they are transformed into textiles, tools, and processed foods. In some cases the finished products quite literally grow on trees or up out of the ground, harvested like crops. The narrow streets and the plain, huddled buildings, are more than just charming; they are charmed. Ageless, self-repairing cobblestone, doors that open into precisely the room one desires to enter, stairs that disappear when they are not needed, regulated temperatures controlled by a bamboo switch and a glass of water. Magecraft has shaped the Capalesian world into something fluid and responsive, perhaps alive. Even the animals that roam the street serve an innovative purpose: any one can be stopped and asked to deliver a package across town. The crowning achievement of Capaliso’s arcanal engineering, however, must be their Cosmacan domes. These profound, eerie temples appear at first to be nothing more than wooden frames, but the wood dissolves away as one steps inside, giving way to massive, distinct domes that seem to be formed from the sky itself, close enough to touch. One stands beneath the stars, as on a clear night, yet feels safe and enclosed, a cool, steady breeze and the voices of the dead drifting across one’s neck. The city outside remains, but seems far away, as if viewed from a mountaintop, and it is a though one has entered not a building, but a dream. Geographical Notes Capaliso’s geography may have contributed to its current accession. Its earliest days were spent warring with itself. This is not unlike other powerful nations, but perhaps what sets Capaliso apart is that its main island (Capalis Macna) did not succeed in conquering the smaller islands around it. Rather the island chains forced Macna to submit to a republic, in which every island, regardless of size was given equal representation in the senate. Additionally, the nation’s distance from the Old World meant that it escaped the worst terrors of the Wars against the Gods, biding its time before quickly and decisively defeating their own Immortals. When Capaliso broke from the Keaslian Church, it again benefited greatly from its geographic position, as well as its own tropical terrain, which made large-scale invasion a difficult endeavor. Dalcerannea The Black Tortoise of the North, which once ruled the Blind Shores, has always been the most troubled of the four great empires, despite the calm appearance of its entrancing blue waters and warm island paradises. Unlike the medium or large sized islands of the other powers, Dalcerannea is made up of hundreds and hundreds of small islands; islands filled with vivacious, hot-headed folk, prone to racy, violent feuds. Though they consolidated under the banner of Kastor Atagonistes in 1960 Ks, no one island ever gained a substantial hold over the others, nor any vendettas adequately satisfied. So competition continued, incessantly. Rulers and dynasties have died young in Dalcerannea, with only a few exceptions. Achievements and Impact Despite the constant political turmoil, however, the Empire of Dalceran held on to its strength for many years, through the audacity of its thinkers and the passion of its peoples. The Dalcerannean navy has always boasted the largest fleet on the Vadraedic; thronged with small ships manned by local militias, famously raised in a single day to defend the home waters. And while Dalceran’s equally numerous merchant ships are known for sustaining most inter-human commerce, its more surprising contribution to trade is by way of bold new land routes, carved into Rvorhmaura by singing, songwriting explorers--the Bards. It was the foresight and celebrity of the Bards that crowned Dalcerannea as not just a trading power, but as a global cultural force. Indeed, Dalceran’s greatest export has always been culture. The Empire bears all the hallmarks of a true Rutalian nation, and has brought the vitality of the Rutai Gulf to all corners of the earth: the ardent philosophy, the mercantile spirit, the renegade social mores. Dalceran in particular is famous for eschewing marriage among royalty and nobility in favor of non-reproductive, often same-sex partnerships, paramours, and hetaeras. This is despite the constant disapproval of the official religious establishment, the Church of Nestros Aguie. As with dynasties and rulers, no religion has won a comprehensive hold on the public sphere. Secular thinking has thrived instead, and in fact, many of the most important (often conflicting) civic and economic ideas of the age have come out of Dalcerannea’s Academies and Universities. Tolerance and Decline Dalceran has always been self-conscious about its cosmopolitan and enlightened identity. It has never considered itself a colonizer, but a commonwealth. Its territories; not conquered, but “annexed.” In some ways all this is only in name, and Dalceran has been as brutal and oppressive as any other Empire. But in many other ways, Dalceran has treated its territories as its own lands, rather than foreign lands they have occupied. Its policies have been pluralistic and relatively tolerant, acknowledging and even celebrating the multitude of cultures and modes of thinking under its rule. People from all corners of the Blind Shores have been invited into the closest circles of imperial power, many of whom go on to found prominent families, even ruling dynasties. In the minds of its rivals and critics, all this openness and tolerance is precisely why Dalceran could not last. At its height, the Empire held territories on four continents and across three thousand miles of ocean. Every decree was printed in twenty languages and every rule applied differently according to each territory’s unique rights and customs. In the Empire’s final, most distressing years, constant political upheaval meant one could not reasonably expect taxes, laws, or prices to remain the same from month to month. Markets went haywire, rebellions sprung up like wildflowers, territories sued for independence. Dalceran had devoured the world, but then it devoured itself. Modern State Today the nation still rules a select few territories in the Rutai and up the Arcurian Coast, but mostly Dalcerannea is just Dalcerannea now. It still has its beauty, its perfect warm weather, bleach white beaches and clear blue waters. Many of its former territories retain friendly relations and many dynasties claim descent from its Emperors. But the days of the “silver seas” are over, and the Dalcerys know this. Big fish eat small fish in the mighty Vadraedic, and Dalceran is a small fish again. A lightheaded hysteria accelerates across the nation as Capaliso gobbles up their former lands, drawing nearer and nearer to the Prize of Rutalia itself. It’s only a matter of time before that mad regime opens its jaws wide and swallows their former rival whole. Notes: “Dalceran” is often mistakenly referred to as the largest island among the Daclerannean isles, but Dalceran Proper is itself a collection of islands, those that formed the original nation. “Dalcery” refers to the inhabitants thereof whereas “Dalceranneans” referred to the rest of the islanders, and eventually the empire. These terms are now all relatively interchangeable. Dalceran has changed capital cities many times over the years, and has often had multiple capitals at once. Castra served as one for many years, and even Dar Nal Emal had a short stint. While there was and is a Dalcerannean Emperor (Patriarchos), they have not held any true power for centuries. Instead, the Emperor’s main duty is to appoint and protect his or her chosen heir—the Heres (Despotes). It is the Heres that rules the Empire in practice. Before there were Emperors at all, the Dacleranneans had High Kings that ruled a much more explicit commonwealth as the “First among Equals.” The title of High King now refers to various hereditary offices ranked below the Heres. Capruannea Dalcerannea’s oft-forgotten southern neighbor is a distinct region and just as numerous in islands, but is often conflated with the great Empire. Its geography is more tropical and disaster prone, its people less hostile and more communal. In Dalceran’s early, rapid expansion, Capruannea’s islands were the first to be gobbled up, and they have slowly integrated politically, but never culturally. Despite never being colonized by Sunya, they are staunchly Marisian, and they go to great lengths to reject the philosophy and elitism of the Dalceranneans. Their roots may be found in Thassica and Jorcaleth, wherein they practice the direct democracy of the former and avoid formal institutions, like the latter. Unlike many other territories of its size, Capruannea remains, rather unhappily, under Dalcerannean rule. But by now the regions are far too connected for any realistic separation to take place, and Capruannea simply wouldn’t have the resources or infrastructure to survive on its own. Perhaps this was always the intention; to provide just enough assistance for survival, but not growth, to infantalize a people into helplessness, so they can never be weaned away—as Dalceran is ought to do. Anters & Asluna These twin tropical islands off the coast of the continent of Draedah are highly valued as economic and symbolic trophies for Vadraedic Empires. Infamous for their bloody history of slavery and slave rebellion, millions of bonded humans and druids have worked on sugar and fruit plantations here, or passed through on their way to every corner of the globe. The Great Aslunian slave revolt brought this to an end and effectively abolished slavery among all human civilizations, but now after 200 years of independence, Asluna is reunited with Anters under colonial rule. Their Capalesian rulers, approaching the Anteri and Aslunians as long lost siblings, seem to want a peaceful incorporation, offering full citizenship in the Empire to any who seek it. But for many in this long-suffering nation, it all smacks of just another form of servitude.